Perth Scorchers vs Auckland, Group A

That's it for this game. There is another one in a short while which is a dead rubber between Delhi and Titans. Hop over to the other tab to follow all that. Until next time, see ya!

Beer: 'Trying to second guess the batsman is what I do and last year I did it successfully 80% of the time back last year in Australia. Team-mates told me it was a slower wicket and I bowled accordingly.'

Beer is the MoM for his superb spell of 3/13

North: 'It has been a frustrating campaign, but nice to finish off with a win. 140 is a score if you bowl well and get a couple of early wickets, one can defend and it happened today. Once you adjusted to the wicket, you can score and the 2nd game will be a high-scoring affair. Hoggy has done it in the past and Beer has been the bowler of the tournament for us.'

Hopkins: 'Pretty happy with 140, it was tough to bat on, but still thought it was gettable. Perth showed us how to play on a slightly slower wicket. Bitterly disappointing not to qualify.'

The spinners have done it for Perth. Beer and Hogg turned the screws on the Auckland middle-order who just couldn't handle the pressure. Coulter-Nile was very impressive as well, playing the first game of the tournament. A good all-round performance from the Perth side, but it has come a bit late. Do stay tuned for the presentation.

19.6 Mennie to M Bates, 1 run, Perth gain a consolation win and in the process they have knocked Auckland out. Heaved to long on. Perth win by 16 runs

19.5 Mennie to Kyle Mills, 1 run, bat turns in the hand and played to mid wicket

19.4 Mennie to M Bates, 1 run, hit hard and straight to long off

19.3 Mennie to M Bates, 2 runs, yorker length on the stumps, dug out to mid off, played in the gap, so a couple

19.2 Mennie to M Bates, FOUR, low full toss outside off, M Bates drilled that wide of cover, hit that hard and into the gap. Certainly pleased a very pretty lass in the crowd who was jiving to the shot

19.1 Mennie to Kyle Mills, 1 run, driven square of the wicket

Last over: 27 needed. Auckland need Rohit Sharma. But where is Mashrafe Mortaza?

14.5 Brad Hogg to C Munro, 3 runs, takes the outside edge and Brad Hogg is appealing for some strange reason. They take three by the time the short third runs after the ball

14.4 Brad Hogg to C Munro, no run, went for the reverse sweep again and missed. Brad Hogg has a few words to say to the batsman

14.3 Brad Hogg to C Munro, no run, tries the reverse sweep and misses. Brad Hogg has a smile at C Munro

14.2 Brad Hogg to C Munro, no run, loud shout from Brad Hogg on a bent knee too, turned in sharply, C Munro missed the flick and Taufel negates the appeal with a smile. Would've gone down

14.1 Brad Hogg to Hopkins, 1 run, glanced to short fine leg, a single

Brad Hogg [3.0-0-25-1] is back into the attack

13.6 Mennie to Hopkins, 1 run, pitched up outside off, Hopkins gets forward and drives to sweeper cover, great fielding from the man keeps it down to a single

13.5 Mennie to Hopkins, no run, short of length, no room, blocked

13.4 Mennie to Hopkins, FOUR, edged and four. Hopkins went for the cover drive, got an outside edge that raced to the third man fence

13.3 Mennie to Hopkins, no run, full on the stumps, driven to cover, straight to the fielder

13.2 Mennie to Hopkins, no run, tight delivery on the stumps, Hopkins gets right behind the line and defends

13.1 Mennie to C Munro, 1 run, full on the pads, flicked to deep square leg

Joe Mennie [1.0-0-5-0] is back into the attack

12.6 Duffield to Hopkins, no run, fuller length on off stump, Hopkins gets forward and defends it to cover

12.5 Duffield to Hopkins, no run, ambitious from Hopkins and he pulls and misses, went over the off stump

12.4 Duffield to Hopkins, no run, kept a bit low and went past the cut shot of Hopkins

Gareth Hopkins, right handed bat, comes to the crease

12.3 Duffield to C Munro, out C de Grandhomme Run Out!! Suicidal running. C Munro edged the cut and took off, Ronchi under-armed and hit direct, catching C de Grandhomme just short. C de Grandhomme run out (Ronchi) 4(4)

11.3 Mike Beer to Azhar Mahmood, out Caught by Gibbs!! Sharp catch at cover. To Gibbs' standard that is a relatively simpler chance. Azhar Mahmood came down the track, didn't get to the pitch of it, slammed it, Gibbs took it with both hands - no trouble at all. Azhar Mahmood c Gibbs b Mike Beer 24(21) [4s-4]

Mike Beer to Azhar Mahmood, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

11.2 Mike Beer to Azhar Mahmood, 2 runs, played into the gap at deep mid wicket for a couple

11.1 Mike Beer to C Munro, 1 run, whipped to deep mid wicket

Colin Munro, left handed bat, comes to the crease

10.6 Brad Hogg to A Kitchen, out Caught by Coulter-Nile!! A Kitchen swings hard and flat, a good low catch at deep mid wicket. Brad Hogg gets his just reward. A Kitchen c Coulter-Nile b Brad Hogg 6(6) [4s-1]

Brad Hogg to A Kitchen, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

10.5 Brad Hogg to A Kitchen, no run, comes back in, sharply, turns it and gets an inside edge onto the pads

10.4 Brad Hogg to A Kitchen, no run, another googly, A Kitchen pushes it to point

10.3 Brad Hogg to Azhar Mahmood, 1 run, heaves it to long on

10.2 Brad Hogg to A Kitchen, 1 run, dabs it to short third. Watched the googly and played it well

10.1 Brad Hogg to A Kitchen, FOUR, low full toss on the stumps, A Kitchen swings wide of long on who despite the dive couldn't pull it back

9.6 Mike Beer to Azhar Mahmood, no run, cut to the right of Kat at point who dives to his right and fields

9.5 Mike Beer to Azhar Mahmood, no run, turn and stops on Azhar Mahmood, he gets forward and arrests the turn, acknowledges a good ball by nodding

9.4 Mike Beer to Azhar Mahmood, no run, comes down the track and drives to cover, sharp fielding

9.3 Mike Beer to Azhar Mahmood, no run, slower and on the stumps, Azhar Mahmood gets forward and defends

9.2 Mike Beer to A Kitchen, 1 run, fraction short outside off, A Kitchen cuts it to point

Anaru Kitchen, right handed bat, comes to the crease

9.1 Mike Beer to Guptill, out Caught by Ronchi!! Sharp catch by the keeper. First ball wicket for Mike Beer in his 2nd spell. Guptill came down the track and swung, it spun away and took the edge. Good glove-work from the Aussie as it was going past his mitts. Guptill c Ronchi b Mike Beer 36(32) [4s-3 6s-1]

Mike Beer to Guptill, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

Michael Beer [1.0-0-3-0] is back into the attack

8.6 Brad Hogg to Guptill, 1 run, gets forward and drives to long on

8.5 Brad Hogg to Guptill, 2 runs, makes room and dabs it with soft hands past short third. Brad Hogg has a puzzled look on his face

8.4 Brad Hogg to Guptill, SIX, lovely slog sweep and caught in the crowd at deep square leg by a gentleman. Guptill connected that beautifully

8.3 Brad Hogg to Azhar Mahmood, 1 run, Azhar Mahmood does well to drop that with soft hands, it bounced and he played it down

8.2 Brad Hogg to Guptill, 1 run, pulled to deep square leg

8.2 Brad Hogg to Guptill, wide, down leg, wide called

8.1 Brad Hogg to Guptill, no run, lovely googly. Guptill isn't picking the one that goes the other way, prods forward and it turns past the outside edge

7.6 Collingwood to Azhar Mahmood, FOUR, Azhar Mahmood is on fire. Backs away and smashes it over cover, beats a desperate dive from long off. Third boundary of the over for Azhar Mahmood

7.5 Collingwood to Azhar Mahmood, no run, full outside off, driven with an open face to point

5.6 Duffield to Guptill, FOUR, Guptill has smashed one finally off the middle and in fact he has done damage to his bat. Thundered a full ball on the stumps over the head of Duffield who was ducking. New bat for Guptill

5.3 Duffield to Guptill, 2 runs, Guptill is living dangerously and he is frustrating the opposition. Mistimed pull over mid on and it clears the man back-pedalling

5.2 Duffield to Guptill, 2 runs, Guptill is teasing the fielders. Over the man at mid off - another lofted hit doesn't find the middle of the bat. A couple

5.2 Duffield to Guptill, wide, very wide outside off

5.1 Duffield to Guptill, no run, under edge and on the bounce to the keeper. Guptill mistiming the pull and lucky not to edge it onto the stumps

4.6 Coulter-Nile to Azhar Mahmood, no run, did that go off the glove? Or was there any bat on it? Anyway it bounced in no-mans land as Azhar Mahmood went for the pull and was hurried by the short delivery

Guptill and Vincent are at the crease. Guptill is on strike. Mike Beer will open the attack

So Auckland need 141 and then depend on Delhi defeating Titans to make it to the semis . Won't be easy against a quality attack like Perth. Collingwood was the star and along with Beaton have given their side a total to bowl at. Lack of significant partnerships meant that the innings didn't go into top gear. We will be back for the chase in a while.

19.6 M Bates to Brad Hogg, FOUR, Brad Hogg plays one ball and hits that for a boundary. Makes room and drives powerfully past a host of fielders on the off-side. Cracking way to end the innings

19.2 M Bates to Collingwood, out Collingwood Run Out!! 1 run completed. Unfortunate way to get out, but that's how it goes sometimes. Hira from deep mid relaying it to Hopkins and Collingwood was caught short. The collision proving to be the difference. Collingwood run out (R Hira/Hopkins) 38(27) [4s-5]

M Bates to Collingwood, THATS OUT!! Run Out!!

Nathan Coulter-Nile, right handed bat, comes to the crease

Third ump called for a run-out against Collingwood. He had a collision with M Bates and that slowed him down. OUT! Collingwood fails to slide his bat in and tries to get there feet first.

19.1 M Bates to Ronchi, out Caught by Guptill!! Full toss on the stumps and it has been caught at long on. Should have been hit out of the park, but Ronchi miscued it completely. Ronchi c Guptill b M Bates 4(6)

M Bates to Ronchi, THATS OUT!! Caught!!

18.6 Azhar Mahmood to Ronchi, leg byes, 1 run, full and down leg side, Ronchi went down for the slog-sweep and missed, sliding down - a leg-bye taken

13.4 Azhar Mahmood to Beaton, 1 run, wanted to drive powerfully to long off, but the bat turned in his hand and the ball went to long on

13.3 Azhar Mahmood to Beaton, no run, short of length outside off, punched powerfully to cover, but straight to the fielder

13.2 Azhar Mahmood to Collingwood, 1 run, short on the body, pulled away to fine leg

13.1 Azhar Mahmood to Collingwood, FOUR, edged and four. Collingwood getting a genuine edge and the ball running away from third man

Azhar Mahmood [1.0-0-6-0] is back into the attack

12.6 B Martin to Beaton, no run, driven back to B Martin

12.5 B Martin to Collingwood, 1 run, comes on the frontfoot and drives to long on

12.4 B Martin to Beaton, 1 run, gets forward and drives to long off

12.3 B Martin to Collingwood, 1 run, flicked to deep square leg

12.2 B Martin to Collingwood, FOUR, smashed through cover. Too full outside off, Collingwood just belted that wide of cover. He has to be there till the end for his side's cause

12.1 B Martin to Beaton, 1 run, driven uppishly past the right hand of B Martin who didn't even get close to it

11.6 R Hira to Collingwood, FOUR, taken from outside off and slog swept fiercely to the vacant deep mid wicket fence. Collingwood hit that really hard

11.5 R Hira to Beaton, 1 run, pushed past a diving point

11.4 R Hira to Collingwood, 1 run, down the wicket and tapped to mid wicket

11.3 R Hira to Collingwood, no run, punched back to R Hira

11.2 R Hira to Beaton, 1 run, punched off the backfoot to long on

Tom Beaton, right handed bat, comes to the crease

11.1 R Hira to Katich, out Bowled!! Freak dismissal. Didn't look like it hit the leg-stump at first glance, but it has done so. Katich shuffling across too much and allowing the ball to sneak through. Went off the thigh pad and then bounced onto the stumps. Katich b R Hira 21(23) [4s-2]

R Hira to Katich, THATS OUT!! Bowled!!

10.6 B Martin to Collingwood, no run, turned and almost squared up Collingwood who got a leading edge that didn't carry to anyone on the off side

10.5 B Martin to Katich, 1 run, flicked to deep mid wicket

10.4 B Martin to Collingwood, 1 run, Collingwood chips out and works it to long on

10.1 B Martin to Katich, 1 run, tries to drive through cover, the ball goes off the inside edge to square leg

Paul Collingwood, right handed bat, comes to the crease

9.6 R Hira to Katich, out North Run Out!! It wasn't a great throw, but still found North short. Late cut to short third, Mills did the rest. Third ump confirms the same. North run out (Kyle Mills) 37(35) [4s-4 6s-1]

R Hira to Katich, THATS OUT!! Run Out!!

Is North run-out? Yes he is. Direct hit from Mills.

9.5 R Hira to Katich, 2 runs, pulled away to deep backward square leg. Bruce Martin slides and almost allows the ball to slip away, retrieves it well on the 2nd attempt

9.4 R Hira to Katich, FOUR, paddled fine and away from Azhar Mahmood at short fine. He gave chase, but the ball had too much on it and beat him comfortably. 50 run stand is up as well

9.4 R Hira to Katich, wide, down leg and a wide called

9.3 R Hira to North, 1 run, whipped away to backward square leg

9.2 R Hira to North, SIX, dropped in the crowd. Huge hit over deep mid wicket. North chipping out and hammering a high ball into the grass banks

9.1 R Hira to Katich, 1 run, hit to short fine leg, quick single taken

8.6 B Martin to North, no run, now reverse sweeps and finds short third, Katich is sent back

8.5 B Martin to North, FOUR, bad ball and swept away from the grasp of short fine. A huge yell of frustration from B Martin for he knew that he had bowled a bad ball

8.4 B Martin to North, no run, chips out and yorks himself, dug out back to B Martin

8.3 B Martin to North, no run, takes it on the full, paddles it straight to the fielder at short fine

8.2 B Martin to North, 2 runs, slog swept to deep mid wicket, the fielder dives to his left to parry it from reaching the ropes

8.1 B Martin to North, 2 runs, driven straight down the ground, hit powerfully and it is a couple for it is placed in the gap

7.6 R Hira to North, 1 run, reverse swept to short third, a quick single

7.5 R Hira to Katich, 1 run, makes room and slaps it square of the wicket

7.4 R Hira to North, 1 run, an inside edge onto the pads as North went for the sweep, they take a single

7.3 R Hira to Katich, 1 run, driven past a diving R Hira to long on

7.2 R Hira to Katich, no run, steers it from middle stump to short third

Hopkins: 'We've got to win for us to have any chance of making the semis and then depend on the result later on.'

North: 'We are going to bat, looks like lovely batting conditions, so hopefully will put up a good total and then defend it. We got the players to expose these conditions as it is similar to Perth. The Marsh brothers and Rimmington are out.'

Perth Scorchers have won the toss and elected to bat

Pitch Report: The colour of the pitch is lighter. It is harder and there is not much of grass covering. There is not much of movement on offer but the team that wins the toss will want to chase.

Welcome to the final day of the league matches in the T20 League. The first match is between Auckland and Perth from Centurion. Auckland will have to defeat Perth by a fair margin if they want to keep their chances alive. However, they will have to hope that Delhi defeats the Titans in the next match to ensure their qualification.

Preview

The stage has been set up for the Aces. A good win against the winless Perth will keep them interested in the final match of the group between Delhi and Titans. Perth have already been knocked out of the competition and have nothing to lose. As Kolkata showed, teams often bring out their best cricket when they are under no pressure. Auckland know that they have no scope for any hiccups as they seek to extend their stay in South Africa.

Semi-final scenarios:

Auckland need to beat Perth by a decent margin to keep their hopes of qualifying for the semis. If they only manage a small victory, they will then have to hope that Delhi beat Titans in the final match.

Auckland:

Having come early to acclimatize to the conditions in South Africa, Auckland acquitted themselves well before tripping badly against the Titans in their second match. A washout against Delhi has made the last match a must win affair. In Martin Guptill and Lou Vincent, Auckland have the power and class in equal measure. The middle order has not been tested to a huge extent and it was evident when they collapsed like a pack of cards against the Titans. The batsmen must put their hands up if the team from New Zealand envision any hopes of making it through to the semi-finals.

The bowling unit has resembled to that of their batting. They fizzled out during the latter stages of the Titans innings allowing Farhaan Beherdien to run amok. Azhar Mahmood has been the shining light of this line-up with both runs with the bat as well as wickets with the ball.

The Aces have been one of the most competitive teams in the league and will hope to extend their stay.

Perth:

The second team from Australia have only pride to play for, they are the only team in the group not to have achieved a win. For a proud team, Perth would not want to return empty handed.

The batting has been a colossal disappointment right throughout the tournament. Shaun Marsh has struggled to get anything more than a run a ball, Katich has flattered to deceive more often than not while the likes of Herschelle Gibbs and Marcus North have just not turned up. The failure of the top-order has put immense pressure on the shoulders of young Mitchell Marsh.

The bowlers have put in a huge effort but the lack of runs and the poor standards of out cricket has left them frustrated. They fought hard against the Daredevils but were let down by dropped catches at crucial junctures of the match. With their pride wounded, Perth would like to play the party poopers to Auckland.

Weather and Pitch conditions:

Centurion has been a good batting surface and should stay the same for the last of the double headers. Heavy showers are predicted for the day.